We’re in the midst of one of my favorite times of year – the conference tournaments and the first week of the NCAA tourney – so you’ll have to excuse the lack of posting. And that won't change any time soon, given that I'm taking the next six days off to watch basketball and ski.

For the first time in at least a decade, I’m not filling out an NCAA tournament bracket. Given how well OSU is playing, I don’t want to sully my enjoyment of the tournament worrying about how the Buckeyes' fate. If I pick them to win it all, I feel I’d be jinxing them. If I don’t pick them, I’d never hear the end of it. So I’m going to skip it this year and just sit back and watch as much basketball as I can.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t read 1,837 stories about the tournament. I particularly liked this compilation from Lopresti (well, except for the last one. I didn’t care for that factoid so much).

In non-sports news, an on-target horoscope today (it seems they're about 1-for-7 in terms of accuracy on a weekly basis, but when they get it right, they really get it right):

You’re engaged in one of your favorite preoccupations: dreaming and wondering about the next step. Welcome the familiar restlessness like you would an old friend.

There’s a fantastic job open just outside Portland, Ore. Given the ongoing state of unrest at my office, it’s tempting. And I absolutely love Portland. But it's really far from here and from my favorite little faces, who were with me for most of the weekend. When I went to pick them up Saturday, they announced they had made me gifts, because I was sick and they wanted to help me feel better. This is what they made:













Matthew made me a portrait of his hand and Adam made me a string basketball necklace. Do gifts get any better? We spent Saturday afternoon feeding animals at a local farm and playing basketball at a new indoor hoops center.

Smiling at the horse, which seconds before scared the absolute crap out of them...










Eating blue ice cream...








Exhausted...









Sunday, we had a textbook Americana day - the local St. Patty's Day Parade, bowling and dinner at the diner.

I don't think they have diners in Oregon. And I know they don't have crazy nephews.